Best places to raise a family

caption Tired of your home country? source HSBC Expat HSBC Expat released its annual expat survey to find the best countries for expats to live based on economics, quality of life, and a slew of other factors. The top countries include Singapore, New Zealand, Germany, Canada, and Bahrain. Switzerland is the best country to live abroad if you want to make more money – the average expat salary is $202,865. Tired of your old job? Looking for a new environment? There are a lot of reasons to leave your home country behind in search of greener pastures, but picking where to go can be an overwhelming decision. There are a lot of conflicting factors: job opportunities, salary considerations, quality of life, safety, and childcare are just a few. HSBC has made the decision a whole lot easier with its latest annual Expat Explorer survey. The survey ranks the best places to go based on experience, economics, and raising children abroad, … [Read more...] about The 20 best countries around the world to live as an expat, ranked

SINGAPORE: Weekday mornings have been a battleground in the Lim household, where nine people have been sharing three bedrooms. And mother of five Ethel Lim is the field marshal, waking up and directing her troop of teens and pre-teens.She has 40 minutes to get her children, aged between 10 and 16, in and out of the toilet they share and out of their maisonette in time for school. This means she would need everything to run like clockwork.What the 37-year-old would usually get is chaos, with lots of knocking on the toilet door.Her second daughter Bernice attested that the mornings could be “very crazy”. “Each one of us only has five minutes in the bathroom, so we can only brush our teeth, wash our face and change our clothes,” said the 15-year-old.“Sometimes one of us gets to school late because somebody woke up late, then (got ready) very slowly.”Mrs Lim would receive complaints from school, usually about 14-year-old Ambrosia, her middle child and … [Read more...] about Starting a family of 7 in Singapore at the age of 21

caption Dads deserve time with their kids, too. source lastdjedai/Shutterstock More fathers in the US are taking on a greater share in the raising of their children than ever before. So it follows that some companies are using this to their competitive advantage. The following US companies offer some of the best paternity leave policies and flexible work arrangements out there. The US is one of the worst countries for parental leave – and it’s especially bad for new dads. According to the Society of Human Resources Management (SHRM), less than a quarter of American companies provided paid paternity leave in 2017. The good news is that American companies are increasing their flexible work arrangements – SHRM reports 14% of organizations increased flexible working benefits in 2017. Overall, 62% of organizations allowed some type of telecommuting, and 57% offered flextime. And … [Read more...] about The 20 best places for new dads to work in 2018

Follow our new CNA LIFESTYLE page on Facebook for more travel stories and videosNEW YORK: Tom Duggan, the man behind the counter at Lemon Gem Kitchen Goods in St. Louis, Missouri, was so talkative that I couldn’t help but stay and chat. He was filling in for his daughter, the shop’s owner, Beth Styles. I asked him what he liked about St. Louis and he said he once had a job that entailed a lot of travel, and that he always liked coming home.“It’s a great place to raise a family, the schools in the county are good, and the real estate is reasonable,” he said. “It’s a big small town.”This isn’t mere aw-shucks sentiment. St. Louis has all you could want in a city – museums, green spaces, good music and exciting new restaurants – plus that distinct Midwestern sense that if you stop random people on the street, there’s a very good chance they grew up nearby and are excited to share the name of their … [Read more...] about Alternative destination: A date with Black Panther and some whirlwind jazz in St Louis

source Shutterstock Los Angeles is the US’s second-largest city, and its sprawling neighborhoods have something for everyone. These are the best neighborhoods to live in in LA, according to someone who lived there for 12 years. Manhattan Beach, Glendale, Downtown LA, Silver Lake, and Monrovia top the list for different reasons. Two things are always certain when it comes to living in Los Angeles, California: the cost of living is exceptionally high and if you wait long enough, you can always count on a neighborhood to spike in popularity. A dozen years back, Santa Monica was the toast of the town, with families and singletons alike flocking to the storied seaside city. Not long before that, West Hollywood was the freshest spot in the county. Back in the middle of the 20th Century, Hollywood was the place to be. When I moved into Glendale back in 2005, it was like pulling teeth to get … [Read more...] about The best places to live in Los Angeles right now